“Women’s rights are human rights. Workers’ rights are human rights. Labour rights are human rights. And trade union rights are human rights,” said General Secretary of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) Frances O’Grady to the 2,500 unionists packing the opening ceremony of UNI’s 5th World Congress.
The TUC was founded 150 years ago in nearby Manchester, and O’Grady reminded the crowd of their early demands: an eight-hour day, universal education, and working-class representation in politics to get rid of anti-trade union laws.
The struggle for these goals changed the country and changed history, she noted, but “the struggles of those pioneers remain relevant to so many workers worldwide today.”
“The best way to honour our past is to build for our future,” O’Grady said. That is why we must “Make it Happen” for workers throughout the globe.
O’Grady called on the trade union activists in the room to ramp up organising of new groups of workers in new industries, to find new ways to bargain and win, and to set the rules for digitalisation at work.
“UNI has an absolutely critical role to play,” she said. “You are a powerful champion of working people in fast-growing service industries the world over. In industries being transformed by technological change; doing jobs which are increasingly precarious.
“This is the unacceptable face of brutal capitalism: and we are the first and last line of defence against it. To the Amazons, Ubers and all the other digital giants using twenty-first century tech to deliver nineteenth century exploitation, we say this: If you think you can use and abuse workers in the name of profit, then think again. We’re on your case. And we won’t let you get away with it.
“Together we will win!”